Dream Goes On for Monarchs, Sea Kings

For Palos Verdes Coach Wendell Yoshida and Morningside Coach Frank Scott, the dream continued Saturday in the Southern Regional girls basketball finals.

Both South Bay teams earned a trip to next week’s state final in Oakland with victories over Lynwood and San Pasqual at the Sports Arena.

“I had them ready,” said Scott. “I didn’t want the same thing to happen that happened the first three times we played them.”

The Lady Monarchs have had three close games against Lynwood (30-5), the state’s second-ranked team and the only squad to beat Morningside (33-1) this season.

Morningside, ranked No. 1 in the state and seventh nationally, defeated the Knights, 52-44, in the Regional final. In the fourth meeting, Morningside played its best first half in the playoffs.

“We cannot keep them off the boards,” said Lynwood Coach Van Girard. “They rebounded the hell out of us.”

Morningside and Lynwood have been alternating victories all year. First, the Lady Monarchs beat Lynwood in the final of the Artesia tournament. A week later, the Knights defeated Morningside in the finals of the Lady Monarchs’ own tournament. Last week at Cal Poly Pomona, Morningside beat the Knights, 60-55, for the Southern Section 4-A title.

“The competition between the two programs is very intense,” Girard said. “I’d like to play Morningside six, seven times a year. I like to play the best.”

It was supposed to be Lynwood’s turn to win on Saturday, but a poor offensive performance and a strong Morningside running game prevented that.

“Coach told us at the beginning,” said Morningside guard JoJo Witherspoon, “to come out from the start and not let up, to just keep on going, and we did.”

Thanks to the solid and consistent play of two-time All-American Shaunda Greene, Morningside dominated throughout the game. She muscled her way inside for a game-high 21 points and 14 rebounds.

“We really felt ready this time,” Greene said. “They really didn’t play all that well, but we came out strong at the beginning, and they’re used to us being slow at the start.”

Morningside’s 6-foot-5 sophomore center Lisa Leslie contributed 13 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 2:08 left in the game. She saw limited action because of foul trouble.

Morningside will play Fremont High (16-11) on Saturday at the Oakland Coliseum for the state title.

The Lady Monarchs’ can travel with their area counterparts, Palos Verdes. The Sea Kings defeated San Pasqual (28-3) of San Diego, 44-37, in the Division II final.

Palos Verdes was still on a high from winning its first-ever CIF 3-A title last week against Los Altos, but the Sea Kings put on a solid performance against the Golden Eagles.

“We’re not the quickest team because of our height,” said Yoshida, “but we had a good game, even though I really have to credit their great defense.”

Palos Verdes was led by 6-foot-4 center Heather Burge, who scored 11 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Susan Wilhite and forward Mary Maloney each contributed 10 points.

“Our tallest girl is 5-foot-9,” said San Pasqual Coach Brad Merrill, “and we knew we had to deny their big girls the ball inside which we did, but then they were very good from the outside.

Palos Verdes will play Sacramento-Grant (26-7) for the Division II State title on Saturday.